Recap / Supernatural S 12 E 15 Between Heaven And Hell

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Recap of Supernatural
Season 12, Episode 15:

Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell

Written by: Davy Perez

Directed by: Nina Lopez-Corrado

Air date: March 9, 2017

An attack by an invisible hellhound at a campsite leads Sam and Dean to investigate the mysterious circumstances. Meanwhile, two of Crowley’s own personal demons uncover what he has been hiding. Castiel gets a lead on Kelly Kline.

Body Count

For this episode: 2 demons, 1 human, and 1 hellhound

For the series so far: At least 1325 humans (of which 22 were witches), 1132 angels (2 of which were archangels), 193 demons, 78 vampires, 59 ghosts, 36 Jefferson Starships, 22 gods, 19 zombies, 17 werewolves, 11 hellhounds, 8 Bisaan, 7 shapeshifters, 7 skinwalkers, 6 changelings, 5 djinn, 6 reapers, 4 dogs, 4 ghouls, 4 Leviathan, 3 Khan Worms, 3 Thule, 2 Amazons, 2 arachnes, 2 kitsunes, 3 rugarus, 2 vetalas, 2 zannas, 1 banshee, 1 cat, 1 crocotta, Death, 1 deer, 1 dragon, 1 fairy, 1 familiar, 1 lamia, The Mother of All, 1 nachzehrer, 1 okami, 1 phoenix, 1 pishtaco, 1 Purgatory creature, 1 qarin, 1 rakshasa, 1 rawhead, 1 shojo, 1 shtriga, 1 siren, 1 soul eater, 1 Titan, 1 wendigo, the Whore of Babylon, 1 wicked witch, and 1 wraith

Tropes

• Actor Allusion: In the opening scene, Dean is carrying a weapon that he says his dad would have loved. The weapon in question? Lucille from The Walking Dead.
• Ax-Crazy: According to Cas, Dagon is known for her psychotic savagery.
• Badass Boast: Crowley states that he's ten steps ahead of whatever escape and revenge plan Lucifer has in store. The end of the episode makes it clear that he wasn't bluffing.
• Badass Finger Snap: Lucifer does this to vaporize Victor and Thomas. Later, Crowley does it to shut off Lucifer's power and break his limbs.
• Batman Gambit: Victor and Thomas release Ramsey, knowing that Crowley will go after her, giving them the opportunity to free Lucifer.
• Call-Back:
  • This episodes mentions Joshua who hasn't been seen or mentioned since season 5.
  • This episodes reintroduces Hellhounds, a recurring creature throughout the series.
  • Mary has the British Men of Letters as Hobbits in her cell phone contacts. Sam, naturally, has Mick listed as Frodo.
• Conspiracy Theorist: Castiel meets with one who thinks that Kelly, Dagon, and the angels she killed are reptilian aliens. You know, like the Queen of England.
• Crazy-Prepared: Turns out, Crowley wasn't as nearsighted when it came to making Lucifer his prisoner as it first appeared. The removable chains holding him are purely for show, as Crowley's actually carved spells from the Cage into every molecule of his vessel, trapping him and giving Crowley total control over him.
• Evil Minions: Thomas and Victor, two of Crowley's minions, attempt to undermine Crowley's current kidnapping/hostage situation go Lucifer but end up paying the price for going above their mook competency level.
• Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Dean says hellhounds are difficult to describe, but ends up going with the simplest description.
• Frames of Reference: Dean wears the square glasses, associated with a harsher more distant personality. Sam wears the round glasses, associated with a softer, sweeter, nerdier personality.
• The Fundamentalist: Whereas Victor wants increased power and prestige in exchange for freeing Lucifer, Thomas is a diehard loyalist, who's even willing to let Lucifer kill him. Even Lucifer is creeped out by him.
  Thomas: Take me, oh Fallen One! My life is yours to devour!
  Lucifer: (Beat) See, now you just made it weird.
• Get Out!: Gwen tells the Winchesters this when they tried to tell her she was imagining things.
• Goggles Do Something Unusual: The glasses the brothers wear have been treated by holy fire allowing the wearer to see usually invisible hellhounds.
• Hellhound: Ramsey's species. Per Crowley, hellhounds were actually created by Chuck for Heaven but ended up being far too vicious and were subsequently taken in by Lucifer for the purpose of collecting damned souls. Ramsey appears to be from the Hunter category.
• Internal Reveal: Sam confesses to Dean that he's been working with the British Men of Letters. This is news to Dean, but the audience has known for over a week.
• Monster Progenitor: Played with. Ramsey isn't necessarily the first Hellhound, but she's the last of the original Hellhounds and the ancestor of all subsequent Hellhounds (meaning all of those seen in the series to this point).
• Out-Gambitted: When he breaks loose and tries to kill Crowley, Lucifer finds out that Crowley is ten steps ahead just as he said.
• Shout-Out:
  • In the opening scene, Dean is carrying a barbwire wrapped bat that he says his dad would have loved.
  • Thomas says he just wants to make Hell great again.
  • A vicious bitch-dog named Ramsay?
• Specs of Awesome: Although Sam doesn't usually wear glasses, he is wearing glasses when he performs this week's act of badassery.
• Squick: An In-Universe example.In the opening scene, Dean in blood with various bits of dead monster stuck in his hair. He insists he's fine and can just clean up with a few baby wipes, but Sam insists that Dean stinks and won't leave for the next job until Dean showers.
• Survivor Guilt: Gwen feels guilty for Marcus getting killed, especially since she went to the woods to break up with him (since she was going to college out-of-state) and he went to propose to her.
• Take That!: When Thomas says he wants to make Hell great again, Lucifer himself seems to agree with his intention.
• Titled After the Song: Played with. The episode is named after a Social Distortion album.
• To the Pain: After proving he can inflict pain on Lucifer with a snap of his fingers, Crowley states he intends to make him watch as Crowley tears his spawn apart in front of him, and that even that will just be him getting started.
• Underestimating Badassery: Lucifer really underestimated Crowley's genius: he warded every atom of Lucy's vessel with the same spells that bound him in the cage. Now when Lucy escapes and is ready to smite the King of Hell, Crowley just switches off the Devil's powers with a finger snap and gives him a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown.
• Ungrateful Bastard: As soon as Victor and Thomas free Lucifer, he kills them to Leave No Witnesses.
• You Can't Go Home Again: It's discussed that Castiel is not welcomed in Heaven, but he is offered a chance to return in exchange for listening to Joshua's proposal on how to deal with Lucifer's unborn spawn. As of the end of the episode, it is not known if the offer is a trap by disgruntled angels or a genuine olive branch.